EB-5: What Is the Controversial ‘Golden Visa’ Touted by Kushner Kin?

The program was created in 1990 to help stimulate the U.S. economy

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In this May 7, 2017 file photo, Nicole Kushner Meyer (third left), the sister of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, poses at a promotional event in Shanghai. She urged wealthy Chinese to buy stakes in a New Jersey real estate project through a controversial visa program that offers U.S. residency in exchange for investment.

A controversial visa program that puts wealthy foreign investors on the fast track to earn permanent U.S. residency is under scrutiny following reports that Jared Kushner's sister pushed the program in China, NBC News reported.

The EB-5 visa investor program allows foreign nationals to get faster access to green cards for themselves and their families if they invest at least $500,000 into qualified U.S. development projects and create or preserve 10 permanent U.S. jobs.

The Kushner family business urged wealthy Chinese citizens last weekend to consider investing the money into a luxury apartment complex in New Jersey.

About 10,000 EB-5 visas can be authorized in a year. The program was instituted in 1990 by Congress to "stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors," according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

13 Civilians, 5 Suspects Dead in Separate Events in Spain

A white van jumped the sidewalk in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas district on Aug. 17, 2017. Police say 13 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in this terrorist attack. The area is one of the city’s top tourist destinations. Later, police shot and killed five terror suspects in Cambrils, Spain, in a separate incident.